Recommendations for Film/Developer database

[Xia_Ke]

It's been discussed about getting a thread or database together for film/developer times and results. I'm working on collecting all manufacturer posted times for developer/film combos and was wondering what the rest of you would like to see included for information. As an idea, here's a table that photophorous has put together:

Film Name: TriX,
Film Format: 35mm, 36 exp
Actual EI: 320 ISO
Contrast level: This is good for high to mid contrast lighting.
Presoak: Yes.
Developer Name: D76
Developer Dilution: 1 to 1
Developer Temp. 68 degrees
Developing Time: 8 min, 45 sec.
Time Measurement Technique: From start of pour-in to start of pour-out.
Tank Size: single roll, 35mm (I find that a double roll needs more vigorous agitation or longer time)
Tank Type: stainless steel
Tank Fill Level: I try to leave a little air gap above the film to let the developer slosh around during agitation.
Agitation Technique: 1 inversion (with quarter turn) per second, continuous for first 30 seconds, then 5 inversions in 5 seconds, every 30 seconds after.
Stop Bath: Water. Fill, agitate for 30 secs, drain, refill, and agitate for another 30 seconds.
Output: Film scanner.
Subject Matter Comments: I prefer this process for street/urban shooting, but I find the results to be too grainy for landscapes.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

[photophorous]

I was thinking something along the lines of a compilation of our own personal processing techniques and data that we could all use as a reference. It could be used to find accurate starting points when trying new combos or to help troubleshoot when you just can't get the results you want from a given combo.

You know how everyone says, you just have to experiment to find your own ideal times for a certain film/dev combo? That will always be true, but part of the reason that is so true is because people usually don't discuss all these other little details that can make a big difference when they're all added up. I think if we could compile some kind of list of different combos and include each of our own personal processing techniques, we could learn a lot from it.

For instance, if one person seems to consistently use a shorter time than you with a given combo, you can look at the other details to see that maybe his timing is different because he dunks his reel into a pre-filled tank while you pour yours into a closed tank, or his agitation is different because he doesn't fill his tank to the brim and you do. One little difference like this may not matter, but several things added up could.

Paul

[mtbbrian]

Take a look at this >>> http://www.photocritic.org/articles/...sing/index.php

[Xia_Ke]

Take a look at this >>> http://www.photocritic.org/articles/...sing/index.php

There's a couple of them out there Brian. THIS is another one. They are fairly basic though. It would be nice if we could get some more complete.

[Jason Hopkins]

might be really nice to have examples of results with different developers. I know its not exactly scientific, but it may help to lend an idea of those every so subtle yet lovely look and feel questions we may have about a certain combination. =)

[photophorous]

My thought is that this should be different from those two example databases because it will include multiple entries for any given combo. For example, we could all post our own process and techniques for TriX in D76 and they will all be a little different. I might even have two entries for the same film/dev combo when I'm using it in a different way...different lighting for example.

Paul

[Xia_Ke]

That's an idea Jason. What would we do for a scan? Just a straight scan of the negative or a zoomed crop to show grain or?

[photophorous]

That's an idea Jason. What would we do for a scan? Just a straight scan of the negative or a zoomed crop to show grain or?

Yes...I was thinking we could maybe find a way to link this up with the gallery? Example photos always help, because we all have slightly different ideas of what is ideal.

[mtbbrian]

Something just occurred to me, that is completley off topic.
This must be your first "sticky"!
Oh The Power!!
:devil:
Brian

[Xia_Ke]

Something just occurred to me, that is completley off topic.
This must be your first "sticky"!
Oh The Power!!
:devil:
Brian

No way, this is my second I had the film format poll stickied before. Wow, I don't know if I can handle this much power!!! :mad2: :mad2:

[another view]

Presoak: Yes.

I have a dumb question. What does this mean?

[photophorous]

I have a dumb question. What does this mean?

A presoak is when you pour water into the tank before the developer. You agitate a little, let it sit for 30 seconds or so, then pour it out and start the developer. What I've heard is that the film emulsion will absorb the developer more evenly when it is already wet. But the main reason I do it is to help control the temperature. You use water at the same temp as the developer and it helps to bring the film, reel, and tank to the same temp before you put in the developer. Otherwise, the developer would immediately warm up (slightly) when you pour it into the warm tank with the warm reel. It's just another detail.

Paul

[another view]

Never heard of that, but it does make sense for consistency. Thanks!

[photophorous]

I'm doing some brainstorming here.

One way we could do this would be to simply encourage people to include lots of information any time they post new photos or want to discuss specific results. It could be a bunch of independent threads that we could find by searching. There could be a Sticky, titled something like, "Post your Film / Dev Combos" that encourages posters to include this info and explains roughly what we're looking for. This is an example of what we could encourage people to do.

Or, we could have a single Sticky thread that everyone could reply to, eventually creating a long list of different people's results with different combos. But, this might create one massive thread, that is difficult to search through for a specific combo.

I'm not sure how else to compile all of this information in one place. Anyone have any other ideas?

Paul

[Xia_Ke]

Paul, I'm thinking that would probably be the way to go. Just have a sticky at the top ONLY for posting film/development info. That way we'll just have one big searchable thread. If anyone has any specific questions about a combo, I think it would be best to start a new thread asking about it so as not to clutter the database thread.

[Xia_Ke]

Paul, have you had any more ideas for this? You had mentioned how difficult using a single thread would be. What if we just had a sticky listing combos that have been posted? Example: I develop some Delta 100 in Rodinal. I go to the sticky and look for this combo. If it is listed, I click on the link to the existing thread and post my results there. If that combo is not already listed, a new thread would be started and then linked to in the sticky. Would this simplify things?

[photophorous]

Paul, have you had any more ideas for this? You had mentioned how difficult using a single thread would be. What if we just had a sticky listing combos that have been posted? Example: I develop some Delta 100 in Rodinal. I go to the sticky and look for this combo. If it is listed, I click on the link to the existing thread and post my results there. If that combo is not already listed, a new thread would be started and then linked to in the sticky. Would this simplify things?

Sort of like a table of contents? I like that idea, but how do you update the list of combos on an existing Sticky thread? Who ever originated the thread could "edit" and add new links to new combos, but only that person could do it. I can think of three ways to update the list. PM the originator to ask for a new combo to be added. Or, the originator could do regular searches to find new threads to include. Or, people could just reply to the sticky and add their link. What do you think?

[Xia_Ke]

I think that works. I can start the index thread, which I'll keep stickied, then we can just have people post in there or pm as they add new film developer combo threads.

[photophorous]

Cool.

Feel free to use my Neopan 400 thread as an example.

[Xia_Ke]

Sounds good I'll get it all set-up tonight when I get home from work :thumbsup: